Psychological distress of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

Department of Psychological Sciences, Department of Sociology and Criminology, College of Nursing, College of Public Health
  1. Open Access Kent State
  2. Kent State University COVID-19 research and funded grants
  3. Psychological distress of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Author(s)
Abstract

Objectives To assess levels of psychological distress among a group of US undergraduate college students during the initial phases of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Methods: All undergraduates at Kent State University were surveyed in three randomly selected cohorts on March 18, March 25, and April 1, yielding 3924 valid responses for the weighted dataset (73.8% female, 88.9% White). Distress was assessed using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). Data were weighted using known population counts. Results: K6 scores averaged 8.19 ± 5.9, with 44.3% in the moderately elevated range and 23.8% above the cutoff for severe psychological distress.Conclusions: A high proportion of undergraduate university students reported elevated psychological distress as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded. K6 scores appeared higher than averages from comparison samples. Targeted surveillance can inform public health in mitigating threats to mental health conferred by pandemics. Colleges and universities should anticipate sharply elevated psychological distress during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format
Article
Identifier(s)
10.1080/07448481.2021.1920953
Publication Date
2022-02-23
Publication Title
Journal of American College Health
Extent
4
Keywords
Rights
https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
Community
Department of Psychological Sciences
Department of Sociology and Criminology
College of Nursing
College of Public Health
Permalink https://oaks.kent.edu/covid19ksu/psychological-distress-college-students-during-covid-19-pandemic
Hughes, J., Horst, A., Gibson, G., Cleveland, K., Wawrosch, C., Hunt, C., Granot, M., & Woolverton, C. (2022). Psychological distress of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic (1–). Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1920953
Hughes, Joel, Anthony Horst, Gregory Gibson, Kimberly Cleveland, Craig Wawrosch, Cynthia Hunt, Maya Granot, and Christopher Woolverton. 2022. “Psychological Distress of College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic”. Journal of American College Health. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1920953.
Hughes, Joel, et al. Psychological Distress of College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of American College Health, 23 Feb. 2022, https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1920953.